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Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Gluten-Free Gingerbread Muffins (vegan, nut-free, xanthan-free)

Happy Winter Solstice, the darkest day of the year here in the northern hemisphere. As we were heading out to the beach today with the kids, my 6 year old said to me, "mama, that's weird, I thought today was supposed to be the darkest day of the year, but it's the sunniest!" Yes indeed, today was a beautiful day to spend at the beach playing on the warm, sunny rocks and exploring the trails. Also a good day to come home and bake gingerbread muffins to warm us up along with mugs full of hot spice tea!

These muffins use pureed prunes and chia seeds to bind them together and hold moisture. They are made almost entirely of teff flour. I buy 25 pound paper bags of it from Azure Standard for around $40 with free shipping. That comes out to about $1.60 a pound, which is far less than what you pay for those little packages in the health food store, plus the packaging is biodegradable. I buy organic, unsulphured prunes in bulk from my local food co-op.

Gingerbread Muffins

These moist and slightly sweet muffins would be perfect to serve on Christmas morning or for a holiday family brunch. Serve them with chai tea, spice tea, or hot mulled cider as an afternoon snack. They are also good served with a dollop of creamy almond butter.

In a large bowl whisk together the dry ingredients. Set aside. Place the prunes, hot water, and ground chia into a blender and let soak for 10 to 15 minutes. Then puree and add the applesauce, oil, maple syrup, molasses, and vanilla. puree again until very smooth. Pour into dry ingredients and whisk together until combined.

Oh this recipe looks delightful! We'll certainly add this to our weekend menu! I was really having a hard time thinking of holiday-ish snacks to keep around.

Only 3 more weeks (give or take) until wee one #2 arrives! We're busy stocking the freezer with yummy baked goods so we have a good supply for when I am unable to cook/bake as much. Your home-birth VBAC is very inspiring--we're hoping for the same here.

I have people lined up to cook for us and have told them that nearly everything on your blog (sans eggs for D.) is great for us and that picking any recipe they like would be fine. I suspect you'll gain a few new fans since everyone seems to love my cooking, which mostly comes from your book and blog.

Speaking of books... :-) We're eagerly awaiting book number 2! Any hints as to when it might be available?

Oh Ali, These are a perfect gift for my father! Thank you, I was wondering what to give him and now I know. Please do tell: How do you store your teff flour? Can it live on the shelf or does it need to find a hole in the freezer somewhere? Thank you.

I can eat these! Thank you for making these nut free and vegan. I can't eat many nuts, and have a sensitivity to coconut, so the recent GF baking trend of almond and coconut flours hasn't been great for me. I haven't had gingerbread in years, can't wait to try this. I think prunes are the perfect pair with molasses.

We made the muffins today. They turned out great! Fantastic texture and great molasses flavor. I was wondering if you chopped up the prunes before you measured the cup or if you just stuffed the prunes into the cup measure and called it "good" -- which is what we did. Thank you for another yummy recipe!

These look fabulous and I'm truly grateful for gluten/casein/xanthan-free. I can eat eggs though. Do you know if I could just eliminate the chia and add 2 eggs or is it more complicated than that? Thinking to myself, I realize I'd probably also have to eliminate about 1/4 cup of water.

Made this recipe twice over the holidays with my grandson. My celiac daughter truly enjoyed them. This was the first recipe with tef flour that I have tried and liked. Surprised by how moist they were. Grandson is allergic to eggs. Many blessings to you and your family.

I've made these GF gingerbread muffins twice -- great both times! I was inspired enough to pick up 5 lbs of dried Moyer prunes from our local farmer's stand but they have pits. Do you have any advice on how to cook the prunes so as to get rid of the pits? Their flavor is amazing but the pits are pesky.

THe taste of these muffins,is off the charts! Yummy. Wow. Mine came out a little dense, I wonder if you whisk with mixer or hand. I did by hand, maybe need more air next time. THank you again, these are amazing. Lovely!

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This blog was created by Ali and Tom of Whole Life Nutrition. We offer healthy whole foods recipes that happen to be gluten-free. Having 5 children, our focus tends to revolve around raising healthy kids. We also specialize in elimination diets, gluten sensitivity, and celiac disease.